Justice Arijit Pasayat's legacy

In the U.S., where the voluntary retirement of Supreme Court Judges is rare, Justice David Souter's retirement at the age of 69 merits considerable discussion and debate about the Judge's legacy. But not so in the Indian Supreme Court, where Judges retire every year. That was why after I wrote on the number of Judgments delivered by Justice Arijit Pasayat, who is retiring on May 9, I was surprised to find R.K.Raghavan's article on Justice Pasayat in Frontline, calling him a Model Judge. Readers are sure to find Raghavan completely uncritical in his assessment of Justice Pasayat. Raghavan even defends Justice Pasayat's ruling on Zaheera Sheikh for turning hostile in the Best Bakery case - which,according to Pratiksha Baxi, who guest blogs today, is indefensible. Some of the readers commenting on my previous post were critical of his rulings awarding death penalty; Raghavan, however, sees it as his merit. Despite our disagreements with him on Justice Pasayat, his article is worth reading, for Raghavan, as the chief of the Special Investigation Team probing the Gujarat massacres, has enjoyed Justice Pasayat's confidence and trust during the hearing of the Gujarat carnage case.

2227+

Justice Arijit Pasayat of the Supreme Court is retiring on May 9, and has been one of the most active Judges in the history of Indian Supreme Court. Having been appointed on October 19, 2001, Justice Pasayat has so far delivered 2227 judgments (as on April 30, 2009). Only a comparison could reveal whether it is also the highest number of judgments to emanate from a single Judge so far. Tomorrow, he is delivering judgment in the most-awaited matter regarding vacation of stay on the trial of Gujarat carnage cases (NHRC vs. State of Gujarat) by disposing as many as 25 petitions at one go. Truly, his contribution to reducing the Supreme Court's docket in the last nine years is phenomenal. Justice Pasayat also happens to be one of the most controversial Judges, in terms of the intense debates that some of his judgments invited. Hopefully, he will write his memoirs to throw light on the judicial controversies that marked the Supreme Court during the last nine memorable years, and contribute to the legal scholarship in other ways. LAOT wishes him a long and productive life ahead on the eve of his retirement. It is hoped that some of us on this blog could assess his contribution dispassionately.

Tarunabh adds: In a rape and murder case decided this week, Justice Pasayat orders death penalty, but Justice Ganguly dissents. It will surely reopen the DP debate when the 3-judge bench looks at it. The judgments are here and here.